Back In the Valley

moses had a mountaintop experience! he is one tough old man. he hikes up mount sinai to fast and pray for more than 40 days and nights. now, i'm not sure what fasting and praying meant to moses. if he fasted at all, whether he passed on the matzo bread completely, if he only drank water, or if he did what i call the ghandi fast lemon juice until the cows...well, i don't know about that one. but you get my drift...

moses went up and talked with the Lord about as face to face as any human we know of to this day. moses coould barely stand to be in the presence of God. he was overwhelmed by the glory of the Lord all around him. he had a fascinating revelation. God gave him the 10 commandments. every basic and ethical and humane law that we need to obey stems from these 10 commandments.

when moses was done fasting and hanging out with God, he was ready to go down the mountain. he had been chatting face to face with God for over a month! he was literally glowing! he was excited because he had received some very specific instructions from the Lord regarding the future of the children of Israel, God's people. but when he came down the mountain what did he encounter?

a holy mess. well, an unholy mess, really. there they were dancing around a golden idol and celebrating! they had forgotten their first love: God! moses grew angry and frustrated.

remember moses is human. he was a little hungry, tired from hiking, and writng down all of God's words to him. he probably just wanted a homecooked meal from his lovely wife, to hang out with his kids, and share with the people all the wonderful things God had told him. he came down the mountain and heard singing and he got all excited, but it wasn't what he thought. the people were dancing and celebrating around an idol with an altar next to it. the leadership had failed while he was gone.

sigh. it was several months of cleaning up from when he was on the mountaintop trying to get ahead with God. sometimes, it must have felt like one step forward, ten steps back.

it is amazing to be on the mountaintop and having that mountaintop experience. but when you come down the mountain, are you ready to rejoin society? LOL. you may have seen God, talked face to face with God, had a vast revelation of God, but what about back down in the valley? nothing has changed. maybe God took you up there because you are the change. and sometimes change must come slowly from the mountaintop to the valley. but regardless, change must come.

questions
when was the last time you spent sometime with the Lord?

read
exodus 20:1-21

song in my head
'i've been made free despite mine enemies!...God's grace and mercy were on every side!' -WOW! Gospel 2010